Through the curtain of rain, Kirishima Bupai moved like a bolt of black lightning. In just a few bounds, he left the ninjas behind him as nothing more than blurry black dots.
His toes touched a slippery rock, and his body paused slightly as the phantom image of the system panel appeared in his mind.
[Host: Kirishima Bupai] [Status: Graduated] [System functions: System shop (unlocked)] [Points: 0] [Redeemable items: ...Phantom Sword (2,000 points), Beowulf (2,000 points), Yamato (3,500 points)...]
Looking at those three familiar weapons in the shop, Kirishima Bupai clicked his tongue inwardly. This felt a little like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut... The system probably hadn't provided these for him to play around with in this world. After all, Yamato had portals, though he still didn't know exactly how to use them.
Vergil's signature loadout from Devil May Cry 5 honestly wasn't much use in the world of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba. As he was now, he could go wherever he pleased with any Nichirin Blade in hand.
Had the system unlocked these purely to satisfy his need to show off? Still, Yamato could cut through space. Once he got his hands on it, he would go have some fun in the One Piece world!
Without those three weapons, it did seem that he couldn't perform the so-called "Test One" and "Test Two," but that didn't matter!
"Even without combos, I, Kirishima Bupai, am still cool as fucking hell!"
"This is great. I've got a pretty face, and I don't even have to make a living off it. Oh, hell yes!!!"
He rubbed his chin in thought. Since the system no longer offered guidance and had left only the panel, killing demons was most likely how he would earn points.
As he pondered, the rain stopped without him noticing, and the night grew ever darker.
Kirishima Bupai looked up and saw the pitch-black silhouette of a mountain ahead.
The surrounding vegetation and rocks gave him an inexplicable sense of familiarity, but after being confined to his home for so many years, he couldn't recall where this was right away.
He vaguely remembered that there seemed to be a rather iconic mountain like this in the plot of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba...
After he walked up the mountain path for about an hour, a faintly lit Buddhist temple appeared ahead.
Kirishima Bupai suddenly slapped his thigh in realization-wasn't this where the protagonist, Tanjiro, first met Sakonji Urokodaki?
As he recalled the anime's plot, a boy's shout suddenly came from below the steps.
"Nezuko, look! There's still a light on in that temple ahead. Someone should still be there. Maybe we can ask to stay the night."
Kirishima Bupai turned toward the voice and saw a boy and a girl approaching from below the steps.
The boy was about thirteen or fourteen, dressed in a heavily patched yellow haori. He had delicate features, but there was a faint scar on his forehead.
A string of dark red sun-disc earrings hung at his neck. Though his eyes showed the weariness of a long journey, they also held a resolve and gentleness beyond his years.
The girl beside him had fair skin and long black hair falling to her waist, and she wore a matching haori.
But her eyes were closed at the moment, her long lashes resting quietly as though she were asleep.
She also held a bamboo tube between her teeth, and an inhuman chill emanated from her body. This girl was Nezuko, who had become a demon.
Tanjiro and Nezuko also noticed Kirishima Bupai on the steps, and both froze for a moment.
The boy before them wore a black-and-blue trench coat, and his slicked-back silver-white hair was particularly striking in the dim light.
His azure eyes were as sharp as a hawk's, and he held a long, slender blade in his right hand.
An unapproachable air surrounded him, leaving them puzzled.
Kirishima Bupai merely gestured at them with his lips without offering a greeting, then turned and walked toward the temple.
Before he reached the door, a strong, pungent smell of blood filled his nose.
His expression didn't change-in the original story, Tanjiro had nearly become a snack for the demon inside this very temple.
Just as he reached out to push open the temple doors, Tanjiro followed him up with Nezuko.
Tanjiro stepped forward and bowed respectfully, asking in an earnest tone, "Excuse me, sir, are you the owner of this temple? I'm very sorry to disturb you. My sister and I would like to..."
Before he could say "stay here for the night," the heavy smell of blood reached Tanjiro's nose first.
His expression abruptly stiffened, his pupils contracted, and terror instantly filled his face.
At the same time, Kirishima Bupai had pushed open the temple doors.
The scene beyond the doors was instantly exposed to all three of them...
A demon with disheveled hair and a hideous face crouched on the floor, ravenously devouring a mutilated corpse.
Dark red blood flowed across the floor, with scraps of flesh and internal organs scattered everywhere, like a living depiction of hell.
Tanjiro instinctively took a step back and pointed with a trembling finger, his voice stammering. "Th-this... this is a demon...?"
Nezuko beside him reacted entirely differently.
Her demonic instincts made a muffled whimper rise in her throat as she smelled the blood covering the floor.
The bamboo tube in her mouth couldn't fully hold back the surge of saliva, which dripped down her chin onto the ground.
Kirishima Bupai rolled his neck, his joints giving a faint crack. Without a change in expression, he told Tanjiro in a low voice, "Stand back!"
Not daring to hesitate, Tanjiro hurriedly pulled Nezuko back several steps.
Clearly disturbed during its meal, the demon inside the temple jerked its head up, fixing its scarlet eyes on Kirishima Bupai as it roared, "You dare spoil my fun? Do you want to die?!"
Kirishima Bupai sneered, gripped the sword's hilt in his right hand, and drew the blade in an instant.
"Void Sword World-!"
A cold silver gleam swept out like moonlight, so fast that only an afterimage remained.
The surrounding space seemed to freeze at that moment, and the vicious expression on the demon's face instantly stiffened.
Utter terror took its place. It tried to move, only to discover that it seemed pinned in place, unable to budge an inch.
Holding the scabbard horizontally before his chest in his left hand, Kirishima Bupai slowly sheathed his sword.
The blade passed through the air and slid precisely into its sheath, its guard stopping level with his chin. The motion flowed seamlessly, carrying an almost ritualistic elegance.
Clang-!
The instant the blade entered its sheath, that cold silver gleam erupted in a dazzling flash!
Boom-!
With a tremendous crash, the entire temple was cleanly sliced in half across its middle.
The demon met the same fate. Its upper body flew backward under its own momentum and slammed into the rock wall behind the temple, throwing up a cloud of dust.
Watching the temple collapse with a thunderous crash, Tanjiro was utterly dumbstruck.
His lips trembled, his eyes filled with incredulous terror as he murmured to himself, "One effortless slash... and it instantly cut the temple..."
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